The ruler of thunder descends, punishing those who do evil.
"Shouyou, Edo shall soon kneel before us, the Harusame. Let go of your sword and come with me. Do this not for my sake, but for your daughter."
"You know I can never do that Ayako, even if it is for the sake of our daughter. Abandoning my sword is the same as abandoning my very soul. If I cannot even protect my soul, how much more can I do it for my-"
"Let go of that philosophy! That kind of belief is why samurai are considered by the Amanto as nothing more than dogs!"
"Wrong or right, my beliefs are my beliefs! As long as I can use my sword, my soul will never waver. I'm sorry, Ayako, but I cannot accept your condition, even if it's for my little daughter."
"You will regret this Shouyou! You will regret leaving me and her!"
"The samurai have been a hindrance for far too long. I suggest we should persuade the bakufu on accepting the purging of the rebel samurai and mentors of bushido."
"Let them have their time. No matter how strong or how many they are, ants are still ants. They will never be able to stop heaven."
An argument takes place between the members of the Tendoushuu, the high elders of Harusame. The storm was only halted by votes, which were of equal numbers. Only two votes remain undecided, one from a pale man with light grey hair, dubbed as the 'Night King' by other members, and a purple haired assassin, entitled by Harusame as 'Kirin'.
Silence fills the gigantic room, which only adds to the frightening view of space from the outside, silence that is broken by the words of the Night King.
"I will not vote. Let us have our last member decide the fate of the samurai. How will you handle this situation, graceful Kirin?"
A smirk appears from the Night King's face.
"A very wise choice, Housen. I cannot afford you lengthening this discussion. Fellow elders, I will side on the purge of the samurai."
"Very well, I think this discussion has been set-"
"On one condition."
The Tendoushuu stares at the woman.
"Alright… State your demands, Sarutobi Ayako."
"Look for a man named Yoshida Shouyou. If you discover that this samurai is still alive, eliminate him first."
"Is that all, Sarutobi?"
Silence once again fills the room.
"…Yes"
"Very well, this discussion has been settled. Harusame will purge the existence of rebel samurai, but will search for Yoshida Shouyou. Once this man has been confirmed to be alive, we will terminate him first. Once this has been done, the purge will be continued. Elders dismissed."
All other members of the Tendoushuu make way to their respective ships, as the Kirin smiles satisfyingly as she leaves.
"Yoshida Shouyou, you are charged to death for sheltering Joi from the bakufu."
In the middle of a flaming field, cries of numerous children can be heard, but one boy detested to the Man's words and protected his master, blocking the path of those who are about to kill him.
"Shouyou-sensei would never do such a thing! He was only teaching us, that's all! You must be lying!"
"Gintoki, don't-"
"Kid, maybe you'd like to die first!"
As the cloaked man's spear was about to hit the boy, Shouyou's hand immediately intercepted the blade.
"Do not touch the boy. He has nothing to do with this. Let him be and I will pay for the sins I did not commit."
A wordless moment, only obstructed by the sound of burning wood.
"… Very well. Men, tie this boy up so he could not interfere."
Two other hooded men grabbed the boy by the arms and dragged him away from what would be his master's corpse.
"Let me go!"
Tied up and forced to kneel down in front of the execution, he struggles to break free.
"Gintoki…" The master that every student he had believed in uttered one last time. The student paused in his struggle to listen to his master.
"I'm leaving things in your care. But hey, there's no need to worry. I'll be back with all of you very soon… So until then… Our comrades… Everyone…Please protect them for me, okay? Let's… make it a promise." The master's last words to his most trusted student, raising one small finger from his tied hands as he walks away. The sound of burning wood was replaced by a white haired, boy's scream.
As the master and his executors walk away, a small conversation between two ensues.
"You accuse me of sins I did not even commit. I have never even come to the attention of the bakufu. I was only teaching these children. The bakufu doesn't even know of me, meaning someone else was behind this. Before I die I'd like to know of the ones responsible for this."
A smirk appears in the both men's faces.
"You're very sharp, Yoshida Shouyou. The woman who was after you was right. The ones behind this false execution was never the Bakufu, they didn't even know that you exist. The ones behind this are none other than the Tendoushuu."
"The Tendoushuu, huh. Heh, I suppose the one who ordered this was Sarutobi Ayako."
Inconceivable laughter filled the air. The cloaked man was hysterical.
"You know too much… ahahaha! Even if you're not a criminal, you're dangerous! I congratulate you for being this sharp. Yes, you are correct. The one behind this is none other than Sarutobi Ayako. She ordered your death, for reasons we do not know. Maybe you can figure out her motive for this… In the afterlife."
A distant memory returns.
"Mother, is father coming home? Did he miss you and me? Mother? Mo-"
"Silence! I do not want to hear another word from you! Your father is not coming back, never! Do you understand!"
Her mother's harsh words forcibly pulled any positive feeling she was expecting to receive. Crying was all she could do.
"… We will begin training, right now. You will harbor the name sarutobi instead of that accursed name from now on. You shall become an assassin, like me. You shall be tolerant to pain, no, you shall find pleasure from it! You shall knock on Death's door and be happy that he may welcome you to the underworld! That is how a true assassin of the Sarutobi clan must be."
A scream…
A frantic Sarutobi Ayame immediately rose up and looked at the tatami after a view of the memory that would not go away from her heart and mind.
"… That dream again… Why can't it leave me?" The purple haired assassin mumbles to herself.
The assassin fixes the yukata she wears then opens the shoji, staring at the moonlit sky afterwards.
"Father, are you the one reminding me of these memories?" She asks the sky, moonlight shining on her face.
"I'll visit you again, father…"
Spring… A season for new beginnings, but one man decided to start it off by looking back at the past.
Gintoki was riding his scooter, his white hair flowing with the wind, his destination, to the only person who he values the most, his sensei. On the way to his master's place of rest, he couldn't cease to remember that sorrowful day, the day he saw his fellow students crying at the sight of their beheaded master, the day that he was powerless to prevent from happening. The more he tries to shake it off of his mind, the more it comes back more vividly. On normal days, he would forget it as if it was an insignificant event, but every time he tries to go there, it would repeatedly haunt him.
He reached his destination, a cemetery distant from Edo. As he was about to climb the stairs, he saw another figure. He ignored the other figure visiting and climbed, but as he climbed, he realized that the figure he just ignored was someone familiar to him.
"Masochist stalker, what the hell are you doing here?" He shouted to the purple haired figure.
"That voice… Gin-san?" The woman looks back to find a confused Gintoki behind her.
"Hey! Are you deaf or something? I'm asking you why the hell you're here. Did you follow me all the way here? Stop following me, you're really getting on my nerves! If I cat-"
"I didn't follow you here! I came here to visit my father, so please stop making me feel more painful as I am now… Just for today, please."
Tears flow off the assassin's eyes. Gintoki had never seen her like this before. For the first time, he felt complete understanding towards her.
"… S-sorry, I didn't know. And how could I be so stupid as to think that you're following me when you got here first?" The samurai tries to cheer her up, and it worked. He saw her face light up and smile. The only things he can do to compensate for accusing her was accompany her to her until she gets to the grave she is visiting.
"So… you're going to visit your father right?" Gintoki asks looking at the assassin. As he looked at her, he saw that Sa-chan has a different air around her at the moment. Not the presence of a stalker, but the presence of a daughter that loved her father. 'Damn, she's so different. And why the hell am I seeing her pretty now? Mind, don't screw me, she's my stalker!' Gintoki's thoughts were circling around so many things about her.
"Yes. I haven't visited him for so long. Someone else also seems to visit his grave, since the grave is cleaned occasionally." Sa-chan replies as they both reach the top of the staircase. They continue to walk around, heading to her father's grave.
"I see… Maybe the one visiting occasionally is your mother." As the word 'mother' comes out of Gintoki's mouth, they suddenly stop in their tracks. Sa-chan's face was suddenly all dark.
"… Mother would never visit father… because she despised him." The assassin said. Silence suddenly took over around them.
"I-I see… Sorry for bringing that up. I didn't mean it, really." Gintoki tries to comfort her. 'Shit, brain! Why are you comforting her? She'll find much more of a reason to stalk me now!" His mind was filled with caution. Sa-chan forces herself to become happy, so her beloved Gin-san will cheer up too.
"It's okay. Let's just continue." She smiles at the samurai as they continue walking. A few moments after and they were at the grave of Yoshida Shouyou.
"So this is your father's grave."
"Yes"
"Hmm…. Yoshi... da… Shou…" Gintoki couldn't believe his eyes. Were they trying to deceive him? No, it can't deceive him, he's not sick or anything. 'So that means….'
"WHAAAAAAT! Shouyou-sensei is your father!"
To be continued.
Hello everyone. This is a Fanfic that I've been thinking about for ages. Finally got some process. So it's going to be GinSachi(Gin x Sa-chan) Fic and it will center around Sa-chan's family.
Now, the reason I didn't use Tsukki is because: she annoys me. Most guys would say "Tsukuyo's not annoying, Sa-chan is!" but there's a reason I used Sa-chan.
1. I see more chemistry between her and Gintoki.
2. Tsukuyo gives me the feeling that she's a tsundere (the most overused girl personality. Tsundere is good, but it is just plain irritating). It's actually nice to see something else for a girl's personality for a change.